One Thing You Shouldn't Bring When Traveling To Some National Parks

The National Park Service covers over 400 national park sites, with 63 of them having the words "National Park" in their proper name. National parks are popular places to vacation across the United States, offering a large selection of outdoor activities from swimming, sightseeing, and hiking to fishing, bird watching, and camping. There are many national park activities you may not know about on the parks' websites. Be sure to try some of those, too! When visiting any of these amazing places, there is a long list of supplies that are important to bring with you, but one thing you shouldn't bring when traveling to some national parks is cash.

A new cashless policy is growing in popularity among United States' national parks. This policy is causing a few feathers to get ruffled — so much so that a lawsuit was filed in spring of 2024 and still hasn't reached a resolution over a year later. They argue that everyone, even those who do not have a bank account, should be allowed into the parks.

The cashless policy applies to admission to some parks and other services that may include gift shops and restaurants. The list of national parks that don't accept cash is growing each year. There are many reasons these parks are adopting the cashless policy such as reducing transaction times, eliminating the need for park staff to handle cash, and lowered risk of theft. It also allows available funds to be used for services for the visitors and projects rather than cash handling tasks. 

There is not a list of cashless parks on the National Park Service website, but you can go to the individual websites of the national parks you will be visiting and look at their fee breakdown. The information on whether the park is cashless should be found there for that specific park. These include Death Valley, Mount Rainier, Rocky Mountain, and Yosemite, among many others. Knowing this information ahead of time will prevent unwelcome surprises and allow you to set up mobile payments and bring your debit or credit cards along. 

An option for those without a debit or credit card is planning trips or vacations around the National Park Service's free entrance days. Free entrance days for the rest of 2025 are June 19, August 4, September 27, and November 11. However, keep in mind that this covers admission fees only and not gift shops, restaurants, and other fees. 

Another alternative to cash if you don't like carrying debit and credit cards is purchasing park passes. Annual passes will allow admission without needing a form of payment upon entry, since you will have already paid for the pass ahead of time. Most national parks offer a variety of passes from senior passes and military discount passes to all inclusive passes like the America the Beautiful Pass that covers admission to a number of parks and federal recreational lands. This is a great way to see some of the national parks that should be on your bucket list. 

Cashless establishments are not as inconvenient as they once were, since a large number of people have stopped carrying cash for various reasons. National parks are not the only ones going to this method of payment. From amusement parks to sports' stadiums, cashless policies are everywhere.  If you are not prepared or there is a technological problem, it can be a real hassle. Preparing ahead of time before you head out on your vacation or trip to the national parks helps, but there is no way to predict every potential problem that could come up. 

In the event there is an issue with your chosen debit or credit card, it is always a good idea to have a backup card on hand with money available so you can use it if something happens with the first one. Many people choose to carry cash anyway along with their mobile payments and credit and debit cards. If there is a power outage or system-wide banking problem, then at least you will have backup cash in case of an emergency. For your next trip to one of the beautiful national parks across the US, avoid the biggest mistakes people make when visiting national parks and take some time to prepare your finances before you go so you can enjoy your trip without worry or stress.